When it comes to scoring big ratings for MTV, a certain team of attractive, frisky, hard-partying twentysomethings has been hard to beat.

Since 1992, The Real World and its young, self-absorbed stars - whether ensconced in a Las Vegas casino or New York loft - have drawn viewers by offering a blend of drama and debauchery.

But after 18 seasons, the show might be losing its game.

A season full of hot tub trysts, verbal beatdowns between roommates and binge drinking at high altitude has proven that raunch doesn't always beget ratings. The current installment, filmed last summer in Denver, has lost nearly a third of the audience that watched five years ago, according to Nielsen Media Research.

Is the Mile High City to blame - or just a sea shift in how MTV's young audience spends its free time?

The former would ease the minds of programmers at the 25-year-old network, who could reverse their fortunes simply by picking a more glamorous location next time. The numbers, however, suggest that teens' TV habits are changing:

• Total Request Live, which features videos selected through online voting, is luring 351,000 viewers daily, a big drop from the 757,000 viewers the show reached during its peak in 1999, reported the Associated Press. The show started taping twice a week earlier this month to save money.

• MTV's Video Music Awards - once must-see TV, thanks to the antics of the nominees (Madonna, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera famously swapped spit at the 2003 VMAs) - attracted an audience of 5.8 million last year. That's a steep drop from the previous year's ceremony, which pulled in 8 million viewers and less than half of the nearly 12 million who watched the 2002 VMAs.

• The Real World's decline didn't begin in Denver. So far, the show is averaging 2.3 million viewers, down from the 2.5 million that tuned to the previous Key West-based season, based on data from Nielsen. In 2002, the Las Vegas season drew an average of 3.5 million viewers a week.

Those declines, however, might just be the cost of catering to a crowd whose attention span appears to be shrinking.

"This generation is harder to surprise and harder to please and demanding, and that's why you see our programming slate upend with more speed than anyone else's," says MTV President Christina Norman.

Fighting to keep its cachet

Despite viewer losses for some of its long-standing franchises, last year was the second-highest on record, ratings-wise, an MTV spokesperson said. The network also was the top advertising-supported cable outlet for 12- to 24-year-olds as of the fourth quarter of last year.

Still, Bob Thompson, director of Syracuse University's Center for the Study of Popular Television, says the network is losing its status as the symbol of youth culture. He can no longer assume, for example, that his students watch MTV daily.

"It's now (a brand) that doesn't say cutting-edge," says Thompson. "It's that thing your older brother grew up with."

Instead, the Internet has now become the home of hip fare. A survey conducted by CBS.com last year revealed that teenagers are spending nearly three hours a day online. More than 65 percent said they regularly visit social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

YouTube is also presenting MTV with a challenge, thanks to its plans to acquire the rights to post every music video ever created.

Still, MTV's Norman doesn't necessarily view the sites as competition.

"There's a huge difference between technology and brands," Norman asserts. "Technology enables ideas. We've seen tons of different platforms come and go, but we ourselves as people create and generate ideas."

And the network has started shifting some of its ideas to the Internet.

Taking advantage of the Second Life phenomenon, MTV launched virtual versions of Laguna Beach and The Hills, allowing viewers to interact with the shows' characters online and become "members" of the communities they see on television. Viewers who want the inside scoop on The Real World, can log into MTV's Web site to see interviews with cast members on the online-only "After Show." MTV is also starting to make entire seasons of its shows available on iTunes before they hit the air.

"It's about being beyond television," says Norman, who notes that the network is the No. 1 provider of wireless programming for young people.

Still looking for surprises

Anyone trying to cater to today's youth could be facing a unique problem: Although they have more entertainment to choose from, teenagers still find themselves feeling restless. Of 839 kids ages 12 to 17 polled in a Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg survey last year, 69 percent of boys and 75 percent of girls said they were bored by their entertainment options either sometimes or often.

MTV, however, has exhibited the ability to surprise viewers. Few expected Ozzy Osbourne and his dysfunctional clan to become huge stars, yet The Osbournes was one of the network's biggest successes, averaging 5 million viewers during its four-season run. Laguna Beach and its spinoff, The Hills have generated buzz more recently, but the network could use another hit.

To that end, MTV recently greenlighted a slate of new shows, including a few slightly riskier offerings:

• Kaya tracks the fast-rising career of a musically-gifted young woman; the network's first scripted drama in five years.

• Scarred acknowledges the influence of YouTube, by examining the stories behind the stunts people videotape and broadcast on the Web.

• The Ashton Kutcher-produced Room 401, a Punk'd for non-celebs who find themselves in unusual situations.

The network also is experimenting with new programming strategies, building Thursday nights, for example, around comedy fare.

"People use television in a completely different way than they did before," says Norman. "Now, it's more about building connections around programming."

Regardless of that new approach, Thompson says the network can no longer expect to be the default channel for young audiences.

"In 1983, MTV dominated the mass culture youth market. But that's because they were the only game in town. They can never get to that point again."

Falling back to earth...



Watching rowdy rock stars vie for MTV's coveted moon men was once must-see TV. But after hitting a high of nearly 12 million viewers in 2002, ratings for the unconventional Video Music Awards show have declined.

Year Number of Viewers

1996 5.1 million

1998 8.9 million

2000 9.9 million

2002 11.9 million

2004 10.3 million

2006 5.8 million

gonzaleze@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5350

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